Park Ridge Public Library

It’s not a big library, but I like this (Park Ridge) library because the Internet speed is where it should be. It’s obvious to me that the person running this library knows how to keep up with the times rather than being stuck in the «old» way of thinking like so many others.

Love the children’s library here — tons to do and often have free or low cost after school programs you can sign up for online.

Pretty good library, and I like the selection of magazines and newspapers it has. I prefer the Des Plaines Library slightly over this one, mainly for the fact it has later Friday hours (till 9pm).
Automatic minus 1 star, for the fact they’ve started to charge non-​residents to go online on their public computer. Why the heck is any library stupid enough to do this? I haven’t heard of a single Chicago area library that does this, other than here and in Oak Lawn. At least there are several nearby library alternatives someone who lives slightly out of the area can go to and bypass the non-​resident internet surcharge, such as Des Plaines, Niles, and the Roden and Oriole Park branches of the Chicago Public Library. I think Roden (which btw is on Northwest Highway, right by the Norwood Park Metra stop) is a little closer of those 2 CPL branches, IIRC.

They charge by hour for Internet access if your out of town. Really

This library has a wonderful, very kind and helpful staff. The one time I asked where a section was, the librarian walked me to it. The selection of new books is vast, as is the music and DVD collection. Alas, the same kindness cannot be said for the patrons, especially in the parking lot. I have nearly been hit several times by SUV drivers racing through the lot. Other drivers carelessly block the sidewalk entry, where a sign is posted clearly asking them not to. I do also wish the library was organized better to offer more study areas. The computer users get annoyed by students studying together at the tables.

This seems like a very nice library. I don’t have a library card here as I don’t live in the area, but they have a really nice lawn area with tables and chairs to enjoy nice weather outside.
Inside they seem to have quite a lot of selection and space, I think I even saw that you can rent paintings, which I thought was interesting.
They have nice little study rooms to use if you can manage to get one.
All in all a very nice library!

Clean, quiet (as expected!). I could see a use for more tables, but then again, that would detract from space for BOOKS!
It is not as expansive as my (much newer) town library but all together sufficient. I’d go back.

Love the selection here. It’s peaceful, well organized and have a great selection to choose from. THe only downfall is that they don’t allow sister libraries to utilize their Kindle program. Fooey!

Nice, clean library with private study rooms, computers & free wifi. I loved the study area on the 2^nd floor because it wasn’t eerily quiet, and I got a seat by the window with a great view of Prospect Avenue and all the passing pedestrians below. Definitely a suburban crowd, with few people in my demographic (i.e. single 20-​somethings), which is why I personally gave it 4 stars. Purely selfish :)

Gosh do I love this library.
I love the way the building is designed, both inside and out. Hands-​down, this place is a great place to take kids, rain or shine. The children’s section is the best!
I also love the adult’s section too. Really, anywhere you go here you can’t go wrong. I wish more libraries could be like this. If you’ve never gone here, it’s worth a trip!

A critical component of a good library is reliable wireless internet. Their wireless internet disconnected every five minutes, rendering me unable to take an online practice standardized test (that registered all the timeouts as time elapsed… I only finished half the practice test that I had to pay for). If Park Ridge residents would look elsewhere, they would quickly realize that the only thing the PR library has going for it is location and a nice children’s section. Go to any other suburb for a real library.

A well-​used, very active library, with a good kids library. Self-​checkout, free fast WiFi, good range of magazines, and space to spread out my MacBook Pro and papers at the handful of tables. And it’s busy enough to make people watching interesting for us freelancers.
The only thing I’d want more of is tables, because it can get pretty crowded at times. And maybe a wandering masseuse, who patrons can pay for back rubs: D

Located in the heart of Uptown Park Ridge across from the Pickwick and the strip of shops along Prospect Ave., this is quite a distinguished landmark building in itself. Now I’m not a big library-​goer, but I got my son into it this summer.
You gotta love their summer reading program for the kids. I’ve been taking my 6 year old to the library every week to participate. They made the pitch a week before school got out by visiting his class and telling them about all the prizes and coupons. And there’s a raffle ticket he receives each time, which can go toward a number of great prizes like computer games or even an entire Wii system.
Then they got the support of local merchants and shops all over town. For the little kids, every 100 minutes you read with them, they get a sticker and some freebie coupons. Each week a different promo. Get 400 minutes and they win an iron-​on patch for their jacket and literally a booklet of freebies. We’re talking some great giveaways this summer:
1. How about 3 free pancakes and a glass of milk at Original Pancake House?
2. Free scoop at Lisa’s Italian Ice.
3. Free cookie from all of these places: Subway, Potbelly, and Baked By Betsy.
4. Frozen chocolate banana from Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory. OK, so he doesn’t like a frozen banana, but daddy gets it (hey, I’m the one reading the stories to him).
No better way to instill a love of reading from a young age than to reward the kids this way.
The Children’s Library is right on the first floor. On a summer day, it’s packed with kids of all ages. Lots of wonderful, award-​winning books to choose from. And the staff is so nice and courteous to their little customers. One cool thing to check out is their monarch display. There’s cocoons and caterpillars and the occasional butterfly about to emerge. We check it out on every visit.
Truly a great and happy place to visit.

I just love the smell of this place, it reminds me of when I was little because I lived in the kids sections, playing computer games on the computers they have in there. I love the young adult loft and the grand windows. Oh yeah the books are good too!

Of course they have books here:) But they offer a place of solice right in the downtown Park Ridge area. They also have many computers you can use for internet or Microsoft Word. These stations are often very busy and I recommend making a reservation first. They have lectures here by famous and semi-​famous people around once a month. There is even some private study rooms and work stations.